A Modern Day Christmas Story
by Matt Smith
Summary: The 2010 Christmas, will be one of pure survival for Hayden Lockhart and Brandon Fisher.


**A Modern Day Christmas Story**

_By Matthew Smith_

**S**o, this story starts out like all other Christmas stories; full of holiday cheer, as we overlook a small town in some northern state. Snow is on the ground, and more is falling. Kids are laughing, playing, sledding, skiing, and making snowmen.

The grownups are inside, staying warm in their perfect little sweaters of Rudolph and Frosty, with hot cups of coffee, visiting with family from other parts of the country, or even the world as dinner cooks in the kitchen.

Now that you have a general idea of the story, let's go ahead, and add some characters. Our main star is a young woman by the name of Hayden Lockhart. In addition, we have her side kick, Brandon Fisher. We have other side characters, but none that are importation enough to mention until the time comes in which they enter the story.

**Jeremiah, Nebraska; Population 67,894**

_**December 24th, 2010**_

Hayden Lockhart stumbled out of her room, rubbing her tired eyes as she yawned. She heard the banging on the door, and wished with all of her heart that it would just stop. Her head was killing her. She looked around the apartment with a sick look. It was a mess. She supposed that it happened when you worked as much as she did.

Still, it was no excuse she told herself, as she stumbled over to the door. She put her left eye up to the peephole and sighed. She opened the door and looked at Brandon Fisher. "What are you doing here at," She glanced up at the clock on the wall. "8:13 in the morning?"

He just smiled, and entered the apartment, and took out a pair of tickets. "I have an early Christmas Present for you, Hay."

"Brandon… what did you do?"

"Well, you said you wanted to go see Brittany Spears, right?"

Hayden made a face. "I don't recall that. The only thing I recall about Brittany Spears is that I told you I rather disliked her and her music entirely."

Brandon blinked at her, several time. "What about, that musical you wanted to go see?" He said. She rolled her eyes. "What musical?"

"That's what I asked you, Hay."

"Ever hear of a practical gift, like a gift-card, or something like that?" She teased him, snatching the tickets, which she read, were to a Rascal Flatts' concert next month. He shrugged. "Well, I have, actually. But you just ain't a practical kind of lady… are you?"

"I'm not a lady at all. It makes me sound old. I'm only 25."

"Right. I know that…"

She waved at him. "Sure. Uh, don't move. I'll be right back."

He nodded, as she ran off into the other room. "What are you doing, Hay?" He asked out loud. Suddenly she ran back out, and handed him a small box. He looked up at her, and smiled. "Speaking of early Christmas…"

His smiled turned into a grin as he opened the box, revealing a shiny wrist watch. "Limited edition?"

"Of course. Took every penny of overtime I made to get it."

He smiled. "So did the tickets, for you." He said, taking off the watch and putting it on his right wrist.

"We're even. Now, give me 10 minutes, and I've got to do some errands. You can join me, with your new watch to flash around."

"Bundle up. Its 10 degrees outside. Fresh snow."

"My favorite." She muttered, sarcastically.

Hayden locked the door behind them, and they started down the hall of the apartment building. "So exactly what errands do you need to do, Hay?"

She rolled her eyes, just thinking about it all. "I need to go grocery shopping; I need to pick up some last minute cards, gas in the car…"

Suddenly there was a loud shouting coming from inside an apartment they were walking by. Brandon glanced over at the door, and Hayden just shrugged it off. "What's new?" She muttered, as they stepped outside. She shivered from the acute coldness.

They reached her car – an older model Ford Mustang, bright yellow. Brandon moaned as he got inside. "I feel like I stick out in this thing." He said, his breath visible in the air.

"You should. I picked the color just for you, ya know." She said, smirking. Her teeth chattered, as he rolled his eyes "Glad I'm always on your mind…" He said, his cheeks filling with color slightly. Hayden started the car and backed it out, and for some reason, noted the man coming down the sidewalk, looking extremely pale. It wasn't nothing to be surprised. It was freezing out.

But the man stared at her, with what almost seemed to be hungry eyes. "Hayden!" Brandon hissed suddenly. She jammed her attention to the driving, as a car was waiting on her to move out of the way. "Sorry…" She murmured, shifting into drive and moving away. She didn't dare spin her tires. Or else the entire vehicle would be spinning around. There was too much ice and snow on the road.

"First stop?" He asked.

"Wal-Mart." She said, turning up the heat in the car.

"Great. I needed to stop there anyhow. You know it's going to be crowded. It's Christmas Eve."

"Thanks for that clarification, Brandy."

"How many times, must I tell you…?"

Hayden laughed. He hated that nickname with a passion. "Whoa…"

Hayden glanced out the passenger side window, down an alleyway, that he was looking at. There was a person kneeling on the ground, over someone else. "We should see if they need help…"

"What? It could be a mugging in progress…" Brandon hissed.

"All the more reason." Hayden said, leaning over Brandon. She opened the glove box and took out a small pistol and fished out her off duty badge from her purse. "Stay here." She said, tucking her off duty pistol into her pants.

He eyed her as she got out. "Sure thing. Staying here!" He watched her walk around the front of the car, and muttered, "I'm the guy, but I'm staying in the car, because… you're the cop."

Hayden walked down the Alleyway, about 20 inches of snow crunching under her feet. "Police! Is everything alright back here?" She called, her hand placed on the butt of her gun behind her. The man that was kneeling tensed up. Upon closer inspection, Hayden noted a pool of red fluid under and around the person lying on the ground.

She drew her weapon as the man turned his head just enough for her to note the blood covering his face – particularly his lips and mouth. "Sir, Stand up slowly and put her hands on the back of your head, and interlock your fingers."

The man just moaned, almost… growled at her, as he slowly stood. She stood, her finger braced on the trigger of her pistol, as he turned. Hayden almost lost her breakfast she never had as she stared at him. He was pale, almost as white as Casper the friendly ghost. His right eye was completely bloodshot, with hardly any white showing in it. His left cheek was rotting through, with only a very thin layer of skin left. The other side of his mouth was gone, with only his jaw showing.

Hayden repressed the urge to scream. She was a cop. She had been for two years now. She was better then a screaming civilian. "Don't you move!" She shouted, reaching down and taking out her cell phone.

The man hissed at her, and took a step forward. Hayden shoved her gun forward, pressing her point in the man's direction. "I said don't you move, God damn it!"

Another step. She dialed 911. The quickest number she had on her mind in such a situation. "911, what's your emergency?"

"This is Officer Lockhart, at the corner of Weston Boulevard and 8th Street. I need backup units ASAP. I've got one victim and one suspect…" She stopped in mid-sentence. She was suddenly unsure of how to explain it. The suspect was unarmed, but threatening her with every step.

"Armed and dangerous on foot in the alleyway." She finished finally.

"Officer Lockhart, I have units two blocks away. Hold tight."

"Copy that." She hung up the phone when she heard a sudden scuffing sound. She looked up and saw the man moving toward her slowly. She calculated the distance. It was about four feet. She watched him, as he moved toward her. She held her gun steady with both hands, with her feet planted on ice and snow.

"This is your last warning, sir." She said, as he reached the two foot marker in her mind. "Come any closer, and I will shoot you."

The man just moaned in response, extending his arms out toward her. That was the last straw. She aimed down at his legs and fired a shot into the left one, hitting right where his femoral artery was located. And yet, there was no blood spurt. No bleeding of any kind for that matter. In the back of her mind, Hayden heard a car door behind her, and a shout.

The man stumbled slightly, and then snarled at her, obviously angry, and obviously unharmed by the shot. Hayden blinked, her training rushing through her mind, trying to find a solution to this unexpected problem.

"Hayden!" She glanced back at Brandon, who was running toward her, glancing behind him ever few seconds. "Brandon, get back!"

She turned her focus back to the assailant in front of her, and gasped when she saw he was only a foot away. She stumbled back into Brandon who let out a girly scream. "Get back!" She shouted at him, and turned to look him in the eye, and saw what he was running from.

Several other people who had the same characteristics as the suspect behind her… wait. Where was he? She turned and suddenly felt his rotten skin against hers as he grabbed at her throat. She quickly put her knee into his groin, and bashed her right fist into his face, knocking him backward.

He did a double take and then snarled at her. Hayden took in a breath and slowly let it out, as she raised her pistol and aimed it at his head. She pulled the trigger and it happened in less then a second, as the bullet casing ejected out of the chamber, and the bullet shot out, and planted itself in the man's left front side of his temple.

He fell backward, and hit the ground with a poof as he hit the snow and concrete. She could hear sirens in the background now as Brandon tapped her on the shoulder. "We should really leave… now." He said urgent-like.

She turned and saw about four other people acting just like the man she dropped. "Come on." She said, "They all seem to move slowly. We can go around. We need to get back to the apartment, and get my side-arm and my radio."

Suddenly there were several pops in the air. Gunshots. Lots of them. And then several screams. "Perhaps we should just go to the station?"

Hayden examined the situation quickly. The man leaning over another man, with blood around the body, and all over his face. His entire body was rotting. He was… _eating._Hayden suddenly felt sick to her stomach. It was nothing but a big nightmare. She wished with all her might that she would just wake up.

It wasn't happening.

She sighed, and opened her mouth to answer Brandon, when suddenly there was a revving sound, and a Jeremiah Crown Victorian police car went flying by, and rammed directly into her Mustang, before flipping forward; front end first, and then spiraled forward, and landed roof down.

"Holy Fuck!" Brandon screamed. Hayden started out of the alley to go check on the police officer, only to duck back as she spotted a hoard of people running after the police car. They looked like the others. Sick. Rotting. Dead.

A thought came to Hayden's mind. Apparently, it came to Brandon's as well.

"Dear God. Hell must be full. It's the walking dead!"

"Get back." Hayden said, grabbing his arm, and turning back for the alleyway, only to stop dead in her tracks. In front of them stood the body that had been lying on the ground, in a pool of blood. It was a woman, of middle age, maybe in her 30s. Her clothing was ripped to shreds, and her stomach was literally hanging from her abdomen, which was torn open. Her right arm was missing a large chunk of flesh and she was covered in her own blood.

"Holy shit…" Hayden muttered. The woman… the zombie. The dead person in front of her hissed, spraying blood everywhere, before she sprinted toward them. Hayden reacted, and brought up her pistol, firing a shot into the woman's forehead, dropping her quickly.

She looked over at Brandon. "I think you are right. Time to report for duty. Come on!"

**Outside of the Jeremiah Police Department**

Hayden led the way down the alleyways and side streets, avoiding what seemed to be an out of control situation. Riots were taking place on all the main streets, and she noted that one particular helicopter was patrolling the skies.

Brandon followed her every direction, down to the very T. What generally took only 15 minutes in a car on a normal day, took them an hour due to the current situation on foot The two of them took opposite sides of an alleyway exit, and looked out around the corner, scanning for any of those undead freaks.

"Anything?" She asked him. Brandon shook his head. "Negative. I see no one."

Hayden looked out and agreed with him. "Alright," she said, forcing his attention upon herself with a snap of her fingers in his face, "We're going to run over there. It's just across the street. If you see one, keep moving. Most of them are slow anyhow."

He nodded. "I might not be a Cop, but I can hold my own in a fight ya know."

"Not with these things…"

He thought for a moment, and then nodded.

"Good point."

Hayden nodded to him. "Ready?" He nodded in return. "Go!" They both stood and took off across the street. Hayden reached the doors to the police department first, and glanced back at Brandon, who stopped, and was staring at something.

"Brandon! Get over here!"

"Mom…?" He murmured. Hayden looked out and saw an undead moving toward him. Hayden felt her heart sink. It was his mother. Or used to be. She grabbed him by the arm. "It's not her anymore…" She said, and regretted the words as they flew out of her mouth.

"Come on… we need to go." Brandon stared at his mother, or what was left, as she shuffled toward them, snarling. Brandon turned and ran inside. Hayden drew her pistol, and aimed it at the now walking dead. And then she stopped and lowered the pistol. She'd attract too much attention with a shot. Best to just leave it be. Hayden turned and ran inside, leaving the once loving Mother to shuffle around the streets alone.

Inside, Hayden stopped and looked around at the front lobby of the PD. There was no desk sergeant working on paperwork, answering the phone, or looking to give assistance. The sound of officers and detectives working to solve and stop crime that was occurring at this very moment wasn't there.

The sight of it wasn't there. None of it was there. Just… a wreaked police department. Papers and office supplies strung all over the place. Several desks and about half of the chairs were toppled over and busted. But the worst of it was the blood. Pools of it. Spatter on the walls and even the ceiling. Drag marks of it on the floor. Hand prints on the walls.

She spotted Brandon standing in the middle of the next room, just beyond the front desk. She approached slowly, as to not startle him. He'd just seen his own mother transformed into a monster. Her heart ached for him. "Brandon…" she said softly. He turned slowly and looked at her. "What happened?" He asked, his voice looking for answers.

Hayden took a quick glance around. "Honestly… I don't know. But I can find out."

The two of them sat in front of the computer, and Hayden put in the tape from the security cameras. She fast forwarded it to the point to where they'd started seeing strange things in the streets. The place was a mad house. She felt her heart rate increase as she watched the police officers and detectives rush to fight off the undead that raced inside. She rewound the tape back to almost 6am, which is when it seemed to have started.

It was the first victim. They walked in, bleeding from the neck. A pair of paramedics who were on standby ran over and inspected the wound. Suddenly the man just slumped down, unmoving. The medics declared him dead minutes later, after trying to revive him.

Hayden was pulled into the scene, unable to remove her eyes from the screen. The man suddenly sat up. The paramedics rushed back over to check him out, and the man pulled one close, and suddenly blood went everywhere, as he ripped a large chunk of flesh from the man's throat and chewed slowly.

The desk sergeant fired off a half a dozen shots into the man, to no avail. In turn, he rushed forward, and got pulled into the horror, as the man turned on him. Hayden shut off the tape, and turned to Brandon.

"If it started at 6 this morning… why hasn't anything been said about it on your radio? Why weren't you called in to help?"

"I…" suddenly there was a crash somewhere in the building. "What the hell was that?" Brandon asked. Hayden looked over at him, and there was a flash of light down the hall. Someone was coming. Hayden listened, and could hear the slightest sound of radio chatter.

She looked over at Brandon, who shrugged. "Maybe it's help."

"Let's find out…" She said, and crept up to the corner of the doorway, and listened. "Alpha team, this is command, over."

"Command, we read you."

"New orders are in. Clear out. They're cleansing Jeremiah."

"Cleansing? Isn't that a little rash? Just let us clear out the shufflers."

"Negative, Alpha. You have your orders. Clear out."

Suddenly there was a crash behind Hayden. She turned, startled, and saw Brandon standing over a chair which had toppled over by accident. "Command. Hold that thought. We might have a problem."

"Check it out, Alpha one."

There were footsteps, almost too clean and soft to hear. But Hayden heard them. She drew her pistol and looked over at Brandon. "Don't move." She mouthed. She didn't need him making any more noise. The footsteps grew closer, and the light was now in the doorway. "Hey, Alpha lead. I have one suspect. Male. Orders?"

"Eliminate."

The figure walked in, and Hayden got a good look. Dressed in SWAT gear, with an MP5 submachine gun, a colt sidearm on his thigh, the man stood about 5 foot 8 inches and was a thick man. She wasn't sure if it was muscle or fat.

"Sorry, buddy…"

There was a shot and the MP5 went flying in the air as Hayden kicked the man in the back of his left knee, and then smashed the butt of her pistol into his cranium. He flopped forward, unconscious.

"Alpha one, what's your status?" the radio buzzed. Hayden snatched it up, along with the ammo and submachine gun, and the colt. She tossed the colt to Brandon. He snatched it up, and fumbled with it in his hands, as the two moved quickly for the door.

The radio buzzed again. "Son of a bitch! One's down. We have a hostile. Eyes open, Alpha!"

Hayden took out an ear piece and plugged it into the radio, and put the headphone into her left ear. "Where are we going now?"

"To the armory."

**Jeremiah Police Department Armory**

Hayden swiped her id badge on the card reader and opened the door that led into the armory. Brandon followed her in, as she grabbed a combat shotgun and slung it over her shoulder. She snatched up an ammo vest and strapped it on, filling it with shotgun shells. "Grab those." She said to Brandon, pointing at the box of .45 rounds.

Brandon snatched up the box and she handed him several ammo clips. "Load those bullets into these." He looked up at her. "This is real. Isn't it?"

She nodded slowly. He grabbed a bullet and forced it into the clip. "Hayden?"

"Yeah, you're doing fine, Brandon. Just like that…"

"Thanks." He said, after a moment of thought, and continued to load the clips for the colt. Suddenly there was radio chatter. She stopped, putting her hand to her ear, to cut out the ambient sound around her.

"Alpha. Extraction. Hospital chopper pad. Last transport is waiting. You have 30 minutes, and then they're gone. Over."

"Copy. 30 minutes. What's the ETA on the cleansing?"

"Scrub-bucket is estimated at 40 minutes. Just enough time for you to get out before Jeremiah goes boom."

Hayden looked up at Brandon, as he finished loading the clips. He looked up at her and saw the look on her face. "What is it?"

"Grab those pouches and put them on your belt. We're leaving. We have a ride to catch."

"They're gonna what?" Brandon sat staring at Hayden, as she explained what was going on. She sighed. She didn't need him getting freaked out. She needed him to have complete focus. "Who ever is behind this… situation is going to clean the city with a missile. The last transport out is waiting at the hospital. We have…" She looked at her watch, "about 20 minutes to get on that transport."

"And we're sitting in some abandoned police station. Anymore chatter from those commandos?"

She shook her head. Brandon looked thoughtful.

"If it's the last, then it's going to be heavily guarded."

"I know. I figure between my training and all your video games, we'll manage."

He cocked an eyebrow and she smirked. "Sorry. Joke." He nodded. "So what's the plan exactly?"

"What do we know about the hospital?"

Brandon thought for a moment. "It's about three stories, with about five thousand square footage of…" He caught Hayden's look. "Right. It's big. Sorry. The chopper pad is on the roof."

"It always is."

"Not always. In Florida, near Orlando, the Hospital's pad is on the ground in the back."

"Don't be a smart ass. It used to be on the roof. Now, we need a way up to the roof of our hospital. I'm sure the building is secure."

"Why not take the stairs?"

"Hell, if that's the case, we'll just walk into the damn building and take the elevators."

"Alright."

"Sarcasm, Brandy."

She stared at him. "We'll need a distraction." Brandon nodded, and then smiled. "I'm sure I can work something out."

**Jeremiah Police Department Parking Lot**

The parking lot was full of police cars, which were all locked. Hayden pressed the button on the remote, and there was the slight sound of a horn, as one of the three dozen cars unlocked. As they glanced around, following the sound, Brandon heard something coming from the far side of the lot. He nodded to her, and she nodded back. And then they heard it. Growling. But not from an undead being. But from an undead animal. German Sheppard to be exact. The police force's specific choice for a fur-covered partner. Its fur and skin were rotting off, and its gums and teeth were showing, the flesh gone from the jaw.

"Brandon, move!" She said, as the animal reared up for an attack. Brandon stared at the dog as it leapt forward, and suddenly he was on the ground, Hayden on top of him. The next thing he knew she was up on her feet, SMG out.

The dog did a 180 and snarled at her and started his run toward her. She fired at it. The shells of the bullets ejected from the rear chamber rapidly. The dog hit the ground with a thud. There was a snarl to Hayden's left. As she turned, a second Sheppard leapt toward her, and there was a gunshot, sending the animal into a slight angled turn, just barely clearing Hayden's face. It hit the ground, unmoving. Brandon ran up and grabbed her by the left hand and pulled her away.

She hit the remote again, and quickly found the car. She handed Brandon the keys. They got in, and he jammed the keys in the ignition, as a dozen more dogs raced toward the car. Brandon started the car, and shifted into drive, and then nodded at the first dog in line. "GTA, Motherfuckers." He said, and put his foot down on the gas, sending the tires spinning for a brief moment, as the car shot forward, running into the undead animals like a bowling ball into the pins at the end.

Several dogs went flying, and the car shuddered as it rolled over a few others. One rolled up onto the hood, and slammed into the windshield, before rolling off onto the ground. He steered the car around and ran the gate, sending it flying off its hinges. Hayden looked over at him, out of breath from the encounter. He just smiled at her, and she smiled, slowly laughing from the adrenaline rush.

**Outside the Jeremiah Medical Center**

He pulled the car up on the side of the road, and shut the lights off, as they stared at the hospital's front entrance. "What do you see?" Brandon asked Hayden, as she looked out at the hospital through a pair of military binoculars.

"Chopper's on the roof. Unmarked. Black. Engine's running. Two men guarding the front entrance, about four more inside the lobby. Roof patrols are unknown."

"Great. So, now it's my turn."

"What do you have planned, Brandon?"

He looked over at her. "Well, I figure this. I'll run this puppy in through the front doors, taking out the two on the way, and then once it stops, you'll need your lovely aiming skills to blow the shit out of the gas tank."

She looked over at him, and smirked. He cocked his right eyebrow. "What's so funny?"

She looked away, and shook her head. "I'm sorry. I… just never knew you had it in you."

"Had what?"

"This!"

He looked out the windshield. Silence took over for a moment. Then he turned to her. "There are a lot of things you don't know about me."

"Like what?" She asked. He looked down at the dashboard, and sighed. "I love you Hayden." He looked up at her now, and suddenly she put her hand in his. "Brandon," she said, "I know."

Suddenly she leaned over, and pulled his lips into hers. Brandon pushed into the kiss, and she pushed back just a little more. Suddenly they both pulled away slightly, and smiled at each other. "I love you too." She said, "Now, let's get the hell out of this godforsaken city."

They both looked out at the hospital. Brandon started the car again, and he put his foot on the gas. It was time to leave.

Brandon drove the car toward the hospital's front entrance. He had it up to about 60 mph. He wanted to make sure he got a good speed up, to penetrate the structure. "Get ready…" He murmured. They were about three yards from the entrance now. The soldiers had taken note of them. Brandon opened his door and Hayden followed suit.

"This is going to hurt, isn't it?"

"Probably…" Hayden replied, as she looked down at the pavement that was flying by underneath them. Oh it was going to hurt, alright. "Now!" He said, jamming a brick on top of the gas pedal. He turned and dived out of the car, and went into a roll for a brief 30 seconds, before he regained control and forced himself to get up and take cover.

"Hay, shoot the tank!"

He looked over and saw her getting to her feet. Her hand came up, pistol already in motion as she locked onto her target. She pulled the trigger, as the car sped toward the doors. The bullet flew from the barrel of the pistol, and flew through the air, microseconds later, hitting the car's gas tank. The car exploded, and the initial blast sent the two soldiers outside, flying. The car flipped hood first, and barreled into the hospital, before exploding one last time, sending only one of the other four soldiers inside scrambling for cover.

The other three were toast, as oxygen tanks went off inside, a result from the second blast. Brandon raced over to Hayden, and let out a whoop of victory. Hayden smiled, but then there was a shout. They both looked and suddenly the radio went off. "We've got two assailants. One male, one female. Both armed. They just took out post one and post two. Get tiger's claw in here, ASAP!"

"Let's go. We don't have much time." Hayden said.

The radio chatter continued as the two of them raced toward the hospital. "Where the hell is Alpha? We need to extract now! They're coming for the transport."

"Are you sure they're not shufflers?"

"Negative. They're using weapons. They ran a fucking car into the front entrance of the hospital! They are not shufflers!"

Hayden moved in front of Brandon, her pistol holstered, the SMG out and ready for duty. They dove behind the burning car that was now in the middle of the hospital lobby. She peered around the corner and saw no movement. "Check right." She said, and Brandon glanced around, and that's when he saw it.

"I've got him. Behind the front desk."

"Good."

She stood up, and handed him the shotgun. "Cover me." She said. Not waiting for a reply, she took off for the elevators, which were past the front desk. Brandon stood, and pumped the shotgun, and aimed it at the front desk, as the man stood, his back to Brandon. He had his sights on Hayden. And he had a large rifle aimed at her. Brandon let out a sharp whistle. The man turned and Brandon pulled the trigger.

The blast sent the man flying backward. He slammed into the wall, and fell to the ground, motionless. Brandon stumbled backward himself, the recoil from the shotgun vibrating through his body, a result of not using such a weapon before in his entire life.

"Brandon. Let's go!" She said, holding an elevator. He pumped the shotgun again, and raced over and got on board, He let out a sigh of relief as the elevator doors closed.

**The Jeremiah Medical Center Rooftop**

The elevator doors opened, and the elevator itself gave off a ding, to announce its arrival to the floor. Hayden and Brandon both marched out, into the small room, which held nothing but one single door, leading out onto the roof – and the helipad.

They looked over at each other, and Brandon pumped the shotgun. Then he marched forward, and put his hand on the door handle. He turned it. It was unlocked. Good and Bad. They knew they were coming. This also meant they were waiting for them.

Hayden nodded to him, and he kicked the door open with his foot and the two moved out onto the roof, where gusts of wind from the chopper's propellers almost knocked them back. Brandon caught sight of the first soldier and fired a hole into his chest, causing him to fall backwards, his assault rifle shooting off a burst.

Hayden raised her SMG as two soldiers rushed out from behind the large fuel tank for the chopper. They fired at her, and she stood her ground as she open fired upon them. She hit one in the right lower leg, and he tumbled forward, with a scream. The other ducked down and checked his friend. Before he knew what was happening, he fell backwards from a kick to the face.

A shot came from behind, and Hayden looked down as a rush of pain flooded her brain. Blood formed on her dirty shirt, around her lower left abdomen, and she looked over at a soldier who stood, pistol raised, toward her.

"Hayden! NO!" She heard, as she dropped to her knees. There was a blast behind her, and more automatic gunfire. She laid down on the concrete ground, the chopper's artificial wind blowing all around her, enhancing the sounds of loud grunting, screams, and more shotgun blasts.

She couldn't breath. Perhaps she was going into shock. She wasn't sure. Suddenly Brandon was next to her, he pulled her into his lap, sobbing heavily. "Hayden. Listen to me. You'll be fine. I'm going to get you on that chopper, and we're going to…"

There was a click, as a pistol was cocked. Hayden stared up past Brandon at a man in a dark outfit. He spoke. "No one is going anywhere. You are going to die, with the rest of these creatures. I warned them not to do it, but they wouldn't listen to me. Now I'm forced to clean up their mess. It's a pity really. Jeremiah was such a peaceful city. Now it's just a damn wasteland of undead."

Hayden gasped. "Who… are they? Why can't we be allowed to leave?"

The man sighed, and Hayden now noticed the dark sunglasses he wore. "Can't allow any witnesses. And survivors are too big of a risk. You might be infected and not even know it… Sorry."

"NO!"

She shoved Brandon sideways and fired off her pistol into the man's chest seven times. The man flopped backward, unmoving. She gasped and spat out blood. Brandon stood up, and looked down at the man in black.

"Brandon…"

He looked over at Hayden. "Hay…"

He got down next to her, and she yanked him in close. "Get on the helicopter. Get out." She looked at her watch. "You still have time to leave safely."

"Not without you."

"Don't be stubborn. Get in the fucking chop-" she gasped from the pain, and suddenly Brandon moved behind her and pulled her up into the hold of the chopper.

"Just like flying the simulations." He muttered, looking over the controls. Hayden forced herself to breath, even though her body refused to. She felt the chopper shudder as Brandon got it up in the air. Hayden looked out, through the open hold, at the dark sky.

Suddenly a gloved hand appeared, grabbing at a hold and pulling. The man in the dark outfit and sunglasses pulled himself up into the hold. Hayden reached down next to her, gasping for air, feeling for her pistol. Her fingertips found it. And then she lost it as the man reached over calmly and picked it up from her finger's grasp and looked down at her, emotionless.

"It's a shame. That your boyfriend is about to die, because of you." He said, cocking her pistol. "Bran…" She gasped, unable to spit the words out. She was helpless. She couldn't warn him. And with the sound of the chopper, he'd never hear or see it coming.

The man in black started to turn. No. She wouldn't let it happen. She closed her eyes, summing up what little energy she had left. And she put her foot hard into his stomach, dropping him to his knees. He pointed the pistol at her, and she kicked that from his hand, and it flopped onto the hold floor. The man leapt for it, and Hayden kicked him in the face, knocking him against the wall. Brandon glanced back, and hissed. "Son of a bitch…" He muttered.

Hayden slowly climbed to her feet as did the man in black. "You are tough. I'll give you that. But I have strict orders."

"And I have a strict policy on getting out alive." She said. She threw a punch and he grabbed her fist in midair and shoved her back, before clocking her from the right. He walked over and grabbed her by her hair, and then rammed his knee into her stomach, and she let out a yelp.

He forced her down onto her knees, before reaching down and picking up her pistol. "I'll finish you. Try and make it painless too. No need to suffer anymore then you already have…"

"Hayden…" She looked over at Brandon, breathing heavily, the pain coursing through her entire body. Time felt like it slowed down as He looked back at her. "Hang on." He mouthed. She gave a soft nod, and suddenly reached up and grabbed a hand hold on the ceiling as Brandon jammed the controls to the right.

The man in black fumbled for a hand hold of his own, but Hayden leapt up, still holding on, and put both feet into his face, knocking him clear to the edge. He stumbled over, and Hayden watched as his glasses fall off his face, revealing dark blood red eyes. His screams filled the air, drowning out the wind from the chopper.

Brandon straightened out the chopper, and looked back at her, as she slumped to the floor of the hold, exhausted. "Hayden, hun. Might want to hang on tight."

Suddenly there was a flash of light behind them. Seconds later, the helicopter shook hard, and she watched as Brandon fought to keep control of it. She suddenly felt sick, and then dizzy, and she closed her eyes, praying the feeling would go away. And then everything went completely dark.

**Outskirts of the City of Jeremiah, Nebraska – The Matrix Forest**

The rain felt nice. It was cooling. Soothing. It put her in a peaceful state. Hayden opened her eyes, staring up at a dark sky. She looked to her left, and to her right. She saw trees. Grass. Dead twigs and branches. Suddenly the sky lit up as lightning flashed. "Brandon…" She whispered.

She sat up on her elbows, and looked around. She saw the chopper, or what remained of it, sitting about two yards away. She looked down, and pulled her shirt up and saw her wound was bandaged up neatly. "Brandon?" She called, looking around, slightly panicked.

Unbeknownst to Hayden, far in the distance; something moved through the darkness.

**The End**

_I would like to wish a Very Merry Christmas and A Very Happy New Year To All My Friends Online; Ajmina; Alicia; Emily; Tommi; Nanna; Gordie; Laura; Lara (Shadow!); Kirsty; Jacob; Caroline; Morgan; Dustin! You all have had a great influence on my life, and I hope you know that I appreciate each and every one of you. Thank you. _


End file.
